Sam's Secret
by BookWorm37
Summary: During a team night at Sam's house post Season 8 they all get a shock when a young woman mysteriously shows up on Sam's doorstep and she has a surprise for Sam. COMPLETE 8.7.05 update on Epilogue
1. Meet the Team

A/N: This is just an idea that I've had for a while that wanted to be written down on paper. I hope you all like it!

It takes place post-Season Eight, Jack's retired from the military but still running the SGC, and he and Sam are ingaged.

* * *

They were having a team night at Sam's house. It was the first one they'd had since the whole Puddle Jumper incident involving time travel. All four of them were already there and they were just waiting for the pizza that they had ordered when the doorbell rang.

Jack rose quickly, "I'll get it." He took out his wallet; "It's probably the pizza."

When he opened the door, he saw a very nervous looking young woman who reminded him extremely of his former 2IC. "Uh, may I help you, miss?" he asked.

She started fidgeting with the sleeve of her jacket, "Umm, is this the home of Samantha Carter?"

"Yes."

"May I speak with her please, sir?"

"Sure," the gray haired and handsome man turned around and shouted back, "Sam! Visitor!"

"Who is it?" she called back.

Jack turned back to the woman on the doorstep, "And you would be?"

"Umm, just tell her that umm, it's someone regarding the adoption that took place twenty-one years ago."

That sounded serious enough for Jack. "Come with me," he said as he ushered her in the door and to the living room.

"Who is it, Jack?" Sam asked as she smiled up at her new boyfriend. Jack motioned to the blond woman behind him and when Sam saw whom it was, all the color drained from her face. "Elise?"

The woman's eyes went wide, "Mommy?"

Sam rose quickly from her seat and enveloped the young woman in a massive hug. "Oh God, thank you so much. You sent my little girl home to me."

The two embraced for a long time, the three men standing by and watching with curiosity. "Mommy?" Daniel mouthed to Jack. The older man simply shrugged, he knew nothing about the unexpected visitor.

Jack cleared his throat loudly, causing both women to break the hug, although Sam still held on to Elise's hand. "Sorry to break up such a lovely meeting, but who the hell is this, Carter?"

Sam winced at the use of her last name; he hadn't used it when talking to her for over a month. "That's a long story, Jack. You all will want to sit down for this."

The group moved into the living room, all the humans sitting, while Teal'c remained standing stoically behind the recliner Jack deposited himself in.

Sam took a deep breath, "When I was sixteen, I was raped by my boyfriend." Jack subconsciously tensed up at that comment and Sam squeezed his hand with her free one. "I got pregnant. My dad wanted to keep the entire thing quiet so as not to ruin my future that I already had planned. As soon as the baby was born, I gave her up for adoption." She smiled at the woman sitting next to her and rubbed Elise's cheek with her hand. "That was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. The couple that adopted her were named the Smalls. He was a diesel mechanic and she was a preschool teacher. She was incapable of having children and my baby was the only shot they had." Sam paused again, and this time her daughter reassuringly squeezed her hand. "They named her 'Elise Samantha Elizabeth' in honor of me and her adoptive mother. They've stayed in contact with me through the years, sending me school pictures and letters about how she was doing. But I never saw her after I handed her over to Elizabeth Small all those years ago." Sam had tears freely falling down her face at this point, causing Jack to put a protective arm around her shoulders.

When the woman was all cried out, Sam looked again at Elise and asked, "How did you find me? Mathew Small made it explicitly clear that as far as he was concerned, I was a surrogate mother who wasn't related to you."

Elise looked down at her hands in an attempt to hide the pain in her eyes, "Dad died last year. Mom only told me that I was adopted after he was buried." She looked again into her mother's eyes, "She died six months ago. It was only after she was dead that I was able to start searching for you. My Aunt Teresa refused to give me any information on you except for your name and that you are in the Air Force."

"I'm so sorry baby."

Elise attempted a smile, "I'm just glad that I finally found you."

Sam smiled warmly at her again, and Daniel couldn't contain himself any longer, "A daughter! Wow, Sam, that's so amazing!"

Sam grinned at Daniel happy nature; "I guess I should introduce you all to her then."

"Ya think?" Jack asked sarcastically.

Sam elbowed him in the ribs gently, "Elise, this is Jack O'Neill, he's a retired Air Force Brig. General and my fiancé. That is Dr. Daniel Jackson over there acting like a child, and the stoic one standing behind Jack is Teal'c Murry."

Elise smiled at all three men and turned her attention to Daniel, "Dr. Jackson? Oh, yes! Now I remember why that sounds so familiar! I read your theories on the ancient pyramids in school. Very well thought out. I personally agree with you on that front."

Daniel smirked and turned to Jack, "See? People read them!"

"Yeah, and Apophis is a nice god." The five people there laughed at the joke.

Daniel looked at Elise again, "So, are you in college now?"

"No, I just received my third Ph.D. and was offered a job right afterward."

Jack looked at her in shock, "You're only, what, twenty-one? And you just got your _third_ Ph.D.?"

Elise grinned at his confusion she got that a lot. "I graduated valedictorian of my high school when I was fourteen. Right after that I started college. I have a Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics, just like my mother. I also have one in ancient mythology and history. The third one is specifically in Ancient Egypt."

Jack gaped in shock, "Another genius Carter."

"So, Elise, where were you offered a job at?" Sam asked curiously.

"At the Cheyenne Mountain Base Complex."


	2. YOU work there?

Everyone stared at her wide-eyed. It was Jack who finally broke the silence, "_That's _where I remember hearing your name before!"

"Jack?" Daniel asked questioningly.

"I was reading through the files of recent graduates to find a new lab assistant for this one here." He smiled warmly at his fiancée. "I kept on going back to yours because you look so much like Sam – and because of all of your experience, IQ and credentials."

"And you work at Cheyenne?" Elise questioned confusedly.

"We all do. I am the base commander; your mom's my 2IC. Daniel is the resident archeologist and linguist, and Teal'c is the master in hand-to-hand combat."

"Wow."

"So, as we are going to be spending a lot more time with one another, I think we should find out more about you and you about us," Daniel said with a suspicious look in his eye that caused Teal'c to raise a solitary eyebrow at him.

Sam just smiled, "Yeah, I heard a lot from Elizabeth in letters over the years, but they were kind of vague. I'd really enjoy hearing about it all from your perspective."

Elise shrugged, "There's not much to say. I had a pretty good childhood. Laughter was almost always present in our house. I kept to myself at school a lot because almost everyone thought that I was a teacher's pet. Mostly that was because I was passing every class when most of the 'popular kids' were failing them. When I was ten, I started a study group to help out the other students – who, by the way, all thought I was a female Einstein. I made my first real friends in that study group, and I'm still friends with most of them today." She paused before continuing, "You should probably meet them. I told them that I was going to look for you and they were all dying to hear more."

Jack looked at this woman before him. Already she seemed to be a daughter to him. He had never thought that he would be a father again, and then he met Sam. She was the light that had penetrated the darkness that had surrounded him since Charlie's death. Well, it seemed that he was a father again. Granted, it was not his child, but she was Sam's, and he started to feel like she was his as well.

"What are they like?" he asked.

"My friends? Well, all are a _lot_ smarter than they pretend to be. Mike has two Masters in Business and Physics. He is also a certified science teacher, but he owns his own store. Laura has a Ph.D. in ancient Greece, but she works at Mike's store. Then there is Tony; he has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, and yet again, is working at Mike's store." She grinned, "Well, its Mike's store and my store. He didn't have enough capital to open it on his own, so I invested in it, half and half. I was the only one of the four of us that didn't work there."

"Great, when do you want to do that, Sam?" Jack asked.

She thought for a moment, "How about tomorrow? Pizza is already on its way, and I want to spend tonight learning more about my daughter."

Elise smiled, "And I want to learn about my mother and her friends."

* * *

A/N: This is just a short chapter to keep you guys interested. I have a lot of stuff going on at school, and I'm not sure when I will be able to update again. Hope you like it and REMEMBER TO REVIEW!


	3. Another Secret Comes Out

The five people spent hours talking about the not classified parts of their histories and their likes, dislikes and favorites.

"No, Daniel! I'm telling _you_ that the pharaohs of the 3rd dynasty affected our culture today more than the pharaohs of the 4th!" Elise argued passionately. "All the evidence is there that they set up the basis for a lot of our culture and fashion styles. The 4th dynasty pharaohs just built off what their predecessors gave them!"

"Isn't that what we do? We build off what we were given and then call it our own?" he argued back. "They built off what they were given and have the right to have it be called their own!"

Jack sighed, the two had been at this for the past half and hour. Neither was touching the pizza that had arrived fifteen minutes before. He wasn't even sure if they knew it had come.

"Oy," he sighed as he looked at Teal'c, "Now we have _three_ resident geeks."

That comment brought Daniel out of the argument, he glared at Jack, "I resent that comment."

Jack grinned, "But it's true. First we have one resident geek, then Sam comes along and it's twin geeks. Now, Elise is here and we have triplets!"

Elise grinned at her soon-to-be stepfather, "Well, I've most certainly been called worse."

At this all heads shot up and four very interested and slightly pissed off warriors were staring at Elise. "Who?" was all her mother said in an attempt to keep calm.

Elise shrugged at the question, "Practically every guy I said I wouldn't go out with, and every guy who was intimidated by my IQ in high school and college."

"Anyone unparticular that we could go and beat the living daylights out of?" _And lock them in a room with Ba'al_, Jack added silently.

Elise thought for a moment before responding, "Well, if you really wanted to beat the shit out of Mike, go for it. But I'm not too sure how well that would go considering that he apologized for the remarks at least fifty times."

"Why the hell would you go into business with a man who called you things like that?" Daniel asked furiously.

Elise's calm gaze bore into him and Daniel found himself looking at the ground like a naughty child.

"I went into business with him, because Laura and Tony both vouched for him before I met him again, and because after three five-pound chocolate boxes, two dinners at a five-star restaurant and five trips for four to the ballet – I thought he deserved the break."

"Mike had enough capital to do all of that for you, Elise Small, and not enough to open up his own store?" Teal'c asked in his usual monotone voice.

Elise looked up at the usually silent giant and gave him a warm smile; she had been waiting for someone to ask that question. "His parents own a ballet house, his sister is the manager of a _Chocolatry _and the five-star restaurant was his aunts." She paused, watching the wheels turn in each of the minds of the four in front of her.

"So, basically, he mooched off his family to get on your good side?" Jack asked, bluntly.

"Yep."

"Why did he go into business with you?" Daniel asked, "I mean, he could have gone to someone else right?"

"The Smalls' were millionaires, Daniel. The two of them had accumulated over fifty million dollars in their lives before adopting me." Elise stopped, looked over at her mother, who nodded for her to continue. "When my adopted mother died, I looked through the financial history of my parents while planning her funeral." She looked at Sam again, "That's one reason I'm so surprised to find my mother working in the military."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, curiously.

"They gave her two million dollars for me."


	4. Mother and Daughter Talk

Sam squirmed around under the gazes of all three men. She slowly lifted her head and met Jack's eyes. "Two million dollars? And you're still working for the _Air Force_?" He said in a confused tone of voice.

"I didn't want to let the money affect how I led my life." Sam sighed and found her hands very fascinating yet again. "When I gave up my baby, Dad and I talked a lot about what I should do with the money. We decided not to let it determine how I lived my life. I have one million in a IRA for when I retire, and the other half I donated to the Air Force Academy."

"Is it the custom of this country to sell their children at birth?" Teal'c asked, his voice void of all emotion.

Sam looked at him, shock in her eyes that he could think such a thing. "I only gave up my baby because I couldn't take care of her. The Smalls _could_. I didn't want to take the money that they offered me for Elise, but Dad and Mr. Small made me take it. They said that it was the least they could do for me." She smiled bitterly, "As I recall it, he put it, 'It's the least we can do after you going through all that pain for us'. I looked him straight in the eye and very bluntly told him that none of what I had done was for him. He was just the best candidate for the parent of my child."

Elise looked at her mother, an unrecognizable emotion in her eyes, "The best candidate for a parent was _you_. Even if I had grown up poor, and with the possibility of loosing my mother in the line of duty each day, I would give anything to have known you in the first twenty-one years of my life."

Tears of regret and anger began to fall down the faces of both mother and daughter. Daniel, not use to seeing this level of emotion from Samantha Carter, cleared his throat loudly, and motioned for Teal'c and Jack to leave the room with him.

The mother and daughter spent the entire night talking. Simply talking. Elise was caught up on as much of her mother's life as wasn't classified or too sore to talk about. Sam even told Elise about the Martin Lloyd incident – well, all except the fact that Martin really was an alien. Elise got a kick out of the message he left at Stargate Command though.


	5. Like Mother Like Daughter

A/N: Well, here it is! Another chapter completed for your reading pleasure. I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've updated, but school just got out yesterday and you know how finals can get. I know that this chapter is short, but Bertha is thinking that this will only go to Elise's first day of work at the SGC. If you have ANY ideas whatsoever about what you want to happen in the next chapters, PLEASE REVIEW! Come to think of it, please review anyway.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. Sorry that I can't mention you all by name, but your imput really helps Bertha and me think and write.

* * *

Sam hugged her daughter again, "Well, it's getting really late and we're going to have a long day tomorrow. Where are you staying again?"

Elise smiled at her mother's worrying, "I rented a suit at the Holiday Inn down the road."

Sam shook her head adamantly, "No way! I will not have my daughter staying at a hotel when I'm perfectly capable of housing her. You will stay here!"

Elise started giggling uncontrollably.

Sam looked at her as if her daughter had grown a second head, "What?"

The younger woman shook her head, "I don't know! It just seems like something I would say is all."

Sam started giggling also, "Come on, I'll show you the guest room."

* * *

Sam Carter awoke the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing. She hoped the sound would just disappear, but when it didn't she finally picked up the blasted piece of technology.

"Carter," she answered groggily.

"Sam? It's me, Jack. I just wanted to know what time you wanted the three of us over there for the drive over to Elise's store."

"Umm, around 1000 hundred hours."

"We'll be there."

Sam hung up the phone and sighed as she looked at the clock. It was 0730 hours and Elise and she hadn't gotten to bed until almost 0200 hundred hours.

* * *

The smell of coffee and eggs slowly made its way into Sam's bedroom and engulfed her in the need to get up and eat.

When she reached her kitchen, she found Elise sipping a cup of steaming coffee while an unknown man cooked at her stove. The young woman saw the look of confusion on her mother's face and smiled warmly, "Mom, this is Alberto, my bodyguard, chief, councilor and masseuse. Since I can't cook, I called him over to make breakfast."

Sam was giggling uncontrollably inside, "How did you know that I wouldn't make breakfast?"

This time Elise smiled sheepishly, "I did a little Intel gathering."

"How?"

"I called Jack last night before I went to bed and asked him if you could cook?"

"And what did he say?"

"That the one thing you couldn't do was cook, and that if I told you that it was him that told me and you were mad, he was going to blame it all on Daniel."

At this Sam's giggling turned into full-blown laughter that caused Alberto (stereotypical Italian man – just with really big muscles) to jump.

He started cursing in fluent Italian as he fixed whatever it was that had dropped.

"Alberto only speaks Italian, Mom. Your laughter took him by surprise," Elise explained as her mother looked at the man in confusion. Elise said something in Italian to Alberto and he responded. She turned back to her mother, "He said that breakfast will be ready in about twenty minutes. You should go take a shower and get dressed. Oh, by the way, what time are Daniel, Teal'c and Jack meeting us?"

"I told them ten o'clock."

"Perfect. We should get to the store at about twelve thirty, and then we will have all afternoon to spend together. Now, go shower."


	6. The Car Ride

The guys all arrived at Sam's house in Jack's truck at exactly 10:00 hundred hours. After a short game of 'introductions' Alberto took the car he arrived in and left. Sam chose to ride with Jack after getting the directions to the store from Elise, which left Elise to drive Daniel and Teal'c in her forest green Prius Hybrid.

The drive was quiet and pleasant, full of lovely scenery and a comfortable silence permeated both cars. Daniel was actually able to make it the entire trip without once asking to stop for coffee.

An hour into the two and a half hour drive, Teal'c was in a trance, listening to the CD he had brought with him, and a very nervous Daniel kept on glancing side long at Elise. After gathering a great deal of courage Daniel asked, "Elise, are you seeing anyone?"

Elise grinned, as if she was enjoying a secret joke, "No, actually I'm not. I was dating Tony for a while, but it wasn't leading anywhere."

The archeologist had the most relieved look on his face. "What about Mike? He seemed to like you from what you told us about them."

"He's married to Laura."

"Oh."

* * *

They were silent for another half an hour before Elise got fed up with her company and pulled over. Teal'c was acting oblivious to what was taking place as the woman turned off the car and twisted in her seat so she was facing Daniel.

"Are you _ever_ going to ask me out or not?" She asked him in a pissed off tone.

Daniel was taken aback at her abruptness. "Wh-what?"

"Are you going to ask me out or not?" She repeated slowly.

"Do you want to go out for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Hmm, well I can't tomorrow night because I already have plans." Disappointment was evident on Daniel's face. "But if you make it Wednesday night, I'd be glad to."

Daniel had the goofiest grin on his face for the rest of the trip. "Excellent."

* * *

Laura paced nervously around the store, which was strangely void of customers at the moment. The sound of laughter could be heard coming from the back room. She smiled lovingly, her bright green eyes full of wisdom and happiness. Her long fiery red locks were aloud to hang loose, giving off a look of an untamed beauty that was perfectly accented by Laura's dark green pixie-style shirt and her low rise black pants. For being a married woman of twenty-three, and the mother of two wonderful children, she looked _great_.

She felt a strong pair of arms snake around her waist and she turned in her husband's arms willingly. "It's going to be fine."

Laura glanced at the clock – it was noon. "How do you know, Mike? What if Elise's mother is a drunk or a lowlife?"

Mike chuckled and in a deep baritone voice responded, "You sound as nervous as the day you met my mother." His onyx eyes were dancing with joy. He was twenty-five, with raven black hair and tan skin that made him look decidedly Greek.

"No, this is worse. With your mother, I could always leave. Now, I have to stay put no matter how bad she is, because Elise asked me to be here."

"Well, you better go and get the twins ready, they should be here soon."

* * *

Exactly thirty-five minutes later, two cars pulled up to a small store on the outskirts of a town. All the occupants of the two cars filed out and in total looked to be three men and two women.

Two boys about three years old ran out of the store and into the waiting arms of the younger woman. "Hey guys! Where's your mom?"

"She's inside with Daddy, Aunty Elise," one of the boys said.

Elise smiled, "Thanks George!" She turned to the other group of people with her, "Guys, this is George and Geoff. They are Laura and Mike's twins."

A squeal was heard from the doorway, "Elise!" The mother of the twins jumped into her best friend's arms and hugged her tight. "It's been so long!"

Elise laughed, "It's been two weeks."

"Still, too long," Laura said, letting her go. "Come on, there's a coffee pot and a cake inside with your name on it."

"Did someone say cake?" Jack piped up, suddenly interested.

Elise laughed, "Come on, I'll make introductions inside."

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter for Sam's Secret. I'm fairly certain that I can finish this in two chapters. They will probably take a little longer in coming, but I hope they will be worth the wait. Thanks, R&R, it's all appreciated.


	7. MORE Secrets?

When everyone was finally seated around the elliptical table in the back room, Laura brought out the cake and set it in the middle. True to her word, it said _Monkeys have brains too, Elise_ on it, with red frosting over white. Upon seeing her best friend's creation, Elise broke out in laughter that.

"I do not see the humor in the writings, Elise Small," Teal'c said confused.

"It's a long running inside joke," Elise replied. "When we first met, Laura was failing her math class. I gave her a simple trigonometry problem to solve and I said that if she couldn't solve it then she was a monkey."

"Needless to say I didn't get the right answer," Laura said, as she took up the story. "Ever since that day my nickname has been 'Monkey'. When I graduated valedictorian from college I closed my speech by saying, 'Monkeys have brains too'. No one beside Elise, Mike, and Tony had a clue what I was talking about."

Elise suddenly realized that their party was missing some very important people, "L.? Where are Tony and Mike?"

"Mike will be just a minute, he was changing out of his work clothes I think." She looked down, unwilling to meet the gaze of her best friend, "Tony isn't here."

"Where'd he go?" Elise inquired. She had asked all three of her friends to be here – including Tony.

"Umm, he went to California to visit his sister."

Elise suddenly found her fingers very interesting, "Oh, okay."

Mike chose that moment to grace the room with his presence. "Elise! It's great to see you again."

"It's great to see you, too Mike," she replied, a smile appearing on her face.

His eyes glanced over the others there and came to a rest on Sam. "And you must be Elise's mother. I must confess that I was rather worried that she was going on a wild goose chase. But now that you're actually here, I can see that I was wrong."

Elise shot him a glare, "Thank you for your input, _Michael_." After a few seconds of silence in which to compose herself, Elise spoke, "This is my mother, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, her fiancé Brig. General Jack O'Neill, and their two friends Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c Murray." Each person nodded his or her head in turn when being introduced. "Guys, this is Laura and her husband Mike."

Laura looked wide-eyed at her friend, "_The_ Dr. Daniel Jackson?"

Elise grinned, "Yep. The one and only."

"Hey! Wait a minute! Why does everyone know about Daniel?" Jack asked, annoyed with the attention the younger man was getting.

Elise looked at Jack; "Because one of the papers he wrote was required reading in a class that we both took before our majors were decided upon."

"Oh, okay," Jack said, as he went returned to eating the big piece of cake in front of him.

Laura sat down by Elise and said, "Sooo."

"Soooo," Elise mimicked.

"Time to share stories?" Laura asked hopefully.

The other woman sighed, "Okay, but only if you promise to keep them short. No rambling."

"No rambling."

The group proceeded to spend the next few hours telling stories about their childhoods. After about five hours of talking, eating and plain hanging out, Sam announced that it was time to go if they were going to get home before it got dark.

* * *

That night, as Sam got into bed beside the man that she loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with, she thought about everything that had happened to her over the past two days.

"Jack?" she asked, after a few minutes of silence.

"Hmm?" he responded, as he tightened his grip around her waist.

"Are you mad at me?"

Jack made her face him. "Why would I be mad?"

"Elise."

Jack sighed, "I'm a little sad that you didn't tell me about her sooner, but I could never be mad at you."

Sam smiled and kissed him passionately, "Good, 'cause I've got another secret to tell you."

"What? Are you secretly married to Daniel or something?"

Sam giggled, "No… I'm pregnant."

"You're pregnant?" Jack asked, making sure he heard properly.

"Yep."

Now it was Jack's turn to kiss Sam as passionately as she kissed him only moments before. He smiled into her hair when their lips broke apart. "I'm going to be a daddy again."

"Yeah, you are," she said, moving one of his hands to rest on her stomach. "We're going to have a baby."

Jack's face bore a shit-eating grin. "Sam, I must say, that is one of the _best_ secrets you've ever told me."

-Fin

* * *

A/N: Well, this is the end of this one, unless you all REVIEW and beg me enough to write an epilogue. I hope you liked it and thank you for reading.


	8. Epilogue

Five months later:

Sam and Jack were married by Thor in the SGC, with Elise as Sam's maid of honor, Cassie as the bride's maid, Daniel as the best man, and Teal'c as the groom's man. It was a lovely ceremony that had no interruptions whatsoever. Sam and Jack went down in SGC history, as the first couple married under the Stargate.

Nine months later:

A very healthy and happy baby boy was born to proud parents named Sam and Jack O'Neill. Jacob Michael O'Neill was born at 0300 hundred hours, on June 21, nine pounds six ounces, twenty inches long.

One year later:

One very nervous Daniel Jackson proposed to the woman of his dreams, and officially became the son-in-law of Jack and Samantha O'Neill on October 19, the anniversary of when they met. (Talk about inbreeding! Sam looks at Daniel as a brother!)

For all time after:

Draw your own conclusions, because as far as I'm concerned, they lived happily and contentedly all the remaining days of their lives. Although, there was that one time…

-Fin

* * *

A/N: You all know the drill, no reviews - no sequal. 


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